Positioning

Positioning is any given Hero's potential physical location on the battlefield. Positioning is a key skill to master in Heroes of the Storm, and directly impacts one's overall performance as a Player. Different Heroes have widely different positional needs, and these needs are themselves greatly influenced by team compositions.

The Frontline is the physical position that is closest to the deployment of the opposing team in the context of a team fight. The frontline is generally composed of resilient or mobile melee Heroes (like Johanna) that deal damage or protect fragile backling Heroes.

The Backline is the physical position that is farthest away from the deployment of the opposing team in the context of a team fight. The backline is generally composed of fragile ranged Heroes (like Chromie) that deal damage or supports (like Morales) while under the protection of more resilient Heroes.

Positioning is important on all Roles. Even when playing warriors, just because you can tank damage and dive the backline doesn't always mean you should.

Warrior/Tank: As a warrior you are the frontline for your team. When grouping for an objective you want to be in a position where your entire team is behind you and the enemy team is in front of you. You act as a buffer to keep the enemy team from engaging on your backline. You also are usually your teams primary engage tool so you also have to engage the enemy backline. Your primary focus should be on protecting your damage dealers and healer. Always try and position yourself between the enemy. If you see an enemy squishy (like Jaina for example) approach his own frontline in order to deal damage, that is usually a good time to try and engage and CC him because it doesn't draw you too far away from your team.

Support/Healer: As a support you generally want to position yourself between your teams backline and frontline. Most supports carry a form of cc that works well as a follow up to engage, or for peel. You want to be positioned to do either of these things depending on the situation. Since your frontline should be absorbing most of the poke, you want to use basic healing spells (if you have them) to keep the health of your frontline up, because if they fall too low and have to back up, your team formation collapses and you will most likely lose the fight. Being in the middle of your team protects you from melee assassins because you are in a spot where your tanks can quickly come to your aid and your backline can deal damage.

Ranged Assassin: Ranged assassins like Hanzo and Chromie will make up your teams back line. Generally you want to stay well behind your own tanks while dealing damage to the enemies tank line in order to force them back. Usually whichever teams frontline lasts the longest will win a standard fight. If an enemy squishy walks up too far, don't be afraid to position slightly more aggressive to get damage down. Damage on the backline is most valuable. Just be sure to keep in mind enemy engage, and melee assassins that might be looking to flank when positioning more aggressive. Your priority is to not die. The longer you live the more damage you can deal over a fight, so don't risk dying to just bring a support down to half hp. If you get engaged on make sure you run into your team, so they can cc the enemy.

Melee Assassins: Melee assassins like Thrall and the Butcher are looking to engage when a team is distracted. This is usually when a team is using their primary engage. Since melees are susceptible to getting kited, it is advantageous to find a flanking position. If one is not available stick with your tanks and try and damage the enemy frontline while waiting for a better position to show itself. This roles engage is the most dependent on what abilities have been used in a fight. You want to wait for your enemy to use most or all of their cc. Look for the enemy frontline to dive and the support to follow, which leaves their squishies vulnerable to a flank. Be patient, the threat of your engage on an enemy backline is valuable. If you engage to early and get killed or too low to threaten the enemy backline you become almost useless. The longer the fight goes on, the more likely it becomes that you are forgotten which is the best time to strike from the flank.

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